


Alice in... Naruto?

by Wonderlandresident



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 15:48:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19276432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderlandresident/pseuds/Wonderlandresident
Summary: Alice Thomson was an average, anime loving,  teenage girl until one weird accident. She falls down a hole and wakes up as a twelve year old in a forest. Alice finds her way to Konohagakure and changes her name to Akane Tachibana to begin her new life as an anime ninja.





	1. I Fell Down A Hole and Now I'm In An Anime?

**Author's Note:**

> Just your average Naruto fanfic that I started on Quotev because I was bored. I don't update often. I started this fic years ago, and I still don't know if I'm ever gonna finish it. Oh well, I guess we'll see. Until I figure it out I hope you all enjoy what I at least have so far

I woke up to an unusual amount of pain over my entire body. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was lying face down in the bottom of a hole, and covered in dust and dirt. I groaned slightly as I turned myself over and sat up. "How did I get down here?" I asked myself. "Oh yeah, I was running and I tripped like an idiot." I grumbled as I face palmed at my own clumsiness. I looked at the opening of the hole and saw sunlight peeking through tree branches, which was weird because I didn't remember seeing any trees nearby before I fell in. But, I decided to ignore this little detail and figure a way out. I tried climbing but, even though it wasn't deep, the walls were slick and there was nothing to hold onto. So, after a few failed attempts, I resorted to my only other option. "HEY! IS ANYBODY OUT THERE!? I'M STUCK DOWN HERE! HELP!"

     I shouted for a while but nobody showed up. At this point, I started to panic. "Oh my God what if nobody finds me I'm gonna starve to death I don't wanna die somebody come save me please I'm to young to die I'm only 17!" I kept rambling on about not wanting to die for I don't know how long until I finally heard someone. "Hello? Is somebody down there?" I heard a man's voice say. It sounded familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it, so again I ignored the probably important detail. "Yeah, I'm stuck. Can you get me out?" I replied. "Yeah, just a sec." My mysterious rescuer said. After a brief pause he threw down one end of a rope and I used it to climb out. 

     "Thank you so much, I was starting to think I would never get out of there." I said with relief. "No problem. But what's a little girl like you doing out here by herself? Are you lost?" he asked. "Um, well actually I-" I stopped mid-sentence and stared in disbelief as I got a good look at my savior. He had silver hair, wore a mask, and had a metal-plated headband over his left eye as an eye patch. It was Kakashi Hatake. "Is he a cosplayer? No, he can't be, his voice sounds just like the real one! But he can't be the real one cause he's not real, right?" While racking my brain trying to figure out if this Kakashi was real or not, I also took the time to notice that I was in the middle of a forest, even though I didn't live any where near one. "Just where the hell am I!?! " I screamed internally.

     "Um... Hello? Are you okay?" Kakashi's voice brought me back to reality, and I realized that I'd been staring off into space for the last few minutes. "Oh! Yes I'm fine and yes I'm lost." I said hurriedly. "Can you tell me where I am?" I asked, slightly nervous about what his answer might be. "You're in the forest just outside of Konohagakure." he answered nonchalantly. "Konohagakure, as in The Village Hidden in the Leaves?" I asked. "Yep, that's right." he said. "My name is  Kakashi Hatake. I'm a Jônin on my way back from a mission. If you want, you can come with me and you can meet with the Hokage. I'm sure he'd be willing to help you find your way home." I couldn't see his mouth because of the mask, but I saw it shift upwards slightly and his right eye was closed, so I assumed that he was smiling at me. "Y-yeah, that sounds great, thank you." I replied, nervously smiling back. "Alright then, follow me." he said as he pulled out one of his "Make out Paradise" books and started reading while walking.

     Kakashi lead me through a small part of the forest until we reached a wide dirt road. As we walked along I observed our surroundings and noticed that they looked familiar. "This is the road that Team 7 takes to the Land of the Waves when they're assigned to protect Tazuna... This doesn't make any sense! How did I get here?!  Am I dreaming?! It doesn't feel like a dream, but that's the only way this could be possible!..Hmm... I should do something to test it." I glanced at Kakashi to make sure he wasn't looking and then bit into the side of my hand, almost hard enough to make it bleed. Then I waited a couple seconds, but nothing happened. "Geez, the Scouts were right, that friggin hurts! How the heck does Eren do that all the time!?... Well, the pain didn't wake me up so I guess I'm not dreaming..." I thought. Now I was even more confused. Then, something large in the distance caught my eye. I looked forward and saw a big gate with two guards standing nearby. 

     "Hey Kakashi," one of the guards greeted as we approached, "glad you made it back!" The other glanced at me and plainly asked "Who's the kid?" Kakashi placed a hand on my head and said "Oh her? She's a lost little girl here to put in a request with the Hokage. I never caught her name though." Then he looked at me as if asking what it was. "I can't go with Alice Thompson. That's too western. I should use a Japanese name." After some quick thought, I answered with the first name that came to mind, "My name's Akane. Akane Tachibana." Using a Japanese name was a bit weird for me since I'm African American, but it sounded cool so whatever.

     The first guard kneeled in front of me and gave me a warm smile. "Well Akane, I hope everything goes well." he said. Then he reached into one of his pockets and handed me a cherry flavored sucker. "Thanks." I said as I put it in my pocket for later. "Come on, we'd better get going." Kakashi said as he started walking. I nodded and trailed after him into town. "I didn't really notice until that guy kneeled in front of me, but I'm shorter than I should be." As I walked past buildings I looked at my reflection in their windows. I had my usual super curly black hair, brown skin, and dark brown eyes, but I was definitely smaller and my chest was flat. The T-shirt and sweatpants I was wearing didn't shrink with me, so they hung off me a bit loosely. "I look just like I did when I was 12! This is really weird." I thought.

    After walking for a long while, Kakashi and I finally reached our destination. We went through long halls and up flights of stairs until we stopped outside of a large door. After Kakashi knocked we heard an old voice say "Enter." and we stepped in. Sitting in front of me was the Third Hokage, blowing smoke from his pipe and rifling through paperwork on his desk. "Ah Kakashi, you've returned," he said glancing over the papers in his hands, "and I see you've brought a guest. Who might you be little one?"  
     "I'm Akane Tachibana. I'm here to put in a request to find my way home." I said, trying to sound mature. "I see. Can you tell me where you're from?" My body went rigid when I suddenly realized that I didn't have an answer for him. I was from a small town in California so there was no way he'd have any idea where it was, let alone how to get me there. I stood completely still trying to come up with a good explanation, but I couldn't so instead I simply shook my head slowly. "You can't tell me?" the old man questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I can't... remember". I said quietly, looking down at my bare feet. I didn't like lying, but it was all I could do at the time. If I told the truth, they'd think I was crazy. "You can't remember? Hmm. Can you tell me anything you do remember? About yourself or where you're from?"  
     "I can remember my name and my age. I'm 12... I think."

     "Kakashi, where did you find Akane?" the Hokage asked. "She was stuck in a hole not far from the village gate. It's possible that she injured her head, resulting in her memory loss." Kakashi said. 

    "That's what I was thinking." the Third replied while blowing out smoke rings. "So what do you want to do about her, Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked. After a long, and uncomfortable pause, the Hokage said "I'll send a few ninja into the nearby villages and towns to gather information about any missing girls fitting Akane's description. After that, we'll simply have to wait for someone to come for her. Until then, she stays here, in the village." I was shocked, but also extremely excited. I was actually going to live in Konoha! "While living here, you'll have to learn how to support yourself." the Hokage continued, "I will provide you with an apartment and a small amount of money to start with, but you will have to find a job." he said as he handed me a sheet of paper titled "Available Jobs in Konohagakure". I scanned over the page until I found what I was looking for; Shinobi.

     "I would like to be a ninja." I said simply. Both Kakashi and the Hokage seemed surprised by my answer. "I don't think that's a good idea. You would have to enroll into the academy, and the graduation is only a month away. It's far too late for you to start now." the Hokage said. He was probably right, but there was no way is was just going to give up my one chance to be a ninja. "Please? I at least want to try. If I can't do it then I'll move on to something else." I said while trying to look as determined as possible. After some heavy consideration, the Hokage sighed and said "Fine." I played it cool and bowed politely while saying "Thank you." but on the inside I was running and dancing around the room singing "I'm gonna be a ninja! I'm gonna be a ninja!~" at the top of my lungs. "Kakashi, you and Akane are dismissed for now. Bring her back at 12:30 so she can pick up her apartment key and academy enrollment forms." Kakashi bowed slightly and said "Yes sir. Come on, Akane." Then he led me out of the office and back into town.

     "Well, we've got about an hour to kill so what do you want to do?" he asked me while reading his book. Before I could answer, my stomach made a noise like a dying whale and Kakashi sweatdropped. "Looks like it's time to get food." he said with a chuckle. I blushed lightly and scratched my cheek with my pointer finger. "Heh, yeah." I said, with a little embarrassed smile. "Could we go for ramen?" I asked, hoping to run into a certain blond boy. "Sure. There's a pretty good place not far from here." Kakashi said.  We walked a little and soon, the aforementioned food place came into view. I took a look at the sign and read it to myself. "Ichiraku Ramen. Huh, I can read the sign even though it's in Japanese. And when people talk, I hear it in English even though they're probably speaking Japanese. Weird, but convenient." 

     As we got closer I saw that Naruto wasn't there and I felt a little disappointed, but I got over it quickly. I knew I'd meet him and all the others when I started the academy. Plus I was already getting to hang out with my favorite Jônin. Me and Kakashi sat down on the stools in front of the food stand and he ordered me a bowl of pork ramen. After about 10 minutes of me fumbling with my chopsticks, and Kakashi quietly laughing at me, I got the hang of it and I ate the best ramen I'd ever tasted. Me and Kakashi chatted while I ate and after I finished, it was time to head back to see the Third. "Good, you two are right on time." the old man said as we re-entered his office. "Akane, come here please." he said as he motioned me forward. I walked towards him and stopped just in front of his desk. He handed me a slip of paper, a pouch full of money, and a small bronze key and said "Here is your apartment key and all the money you'll need for a month, as well as your academy enrollment certificate. Your sensei will be Iruka and your first day is tomorrow." After that, he explained a few more boring details and then dismissed me and Kakashi again. On our way out, Kakashi offered to show me around town and then take me home. "Yeah, that sounds great! But first could we stop by a- WAHH!" I yelled mid-response as I tripped over my extra long pant leg and fell to the floor. "Clothing store." I finished while lifting my face from the ground. "That's probably a good idea." Kakashi said as he sweatdropped at me, again. 

     We entered a small shop and I began to look around. It wasn't long before I picked an outfit and rushed to the fitting room. When I stepped out again I was wearing a black sleeveless hoodie underneath a light grey all-weather vest, and a pair of dark grey and black camouflage cargo pants. "How do I look, Kakashi?" I asked while striking a cheesy cool pose. "Like you're ready for action. Well... Almost." Then he pointed at my feet and I realized that I was still shoeless. "Oops." I said. "Here, these look like they should fit you." Kakashi said as he handed me a shoe box from a shelf next to him. I opened it and slipped on the standard blue ninja sandles inside. "Wow, a perfect fit, thanks." After that, I went to the counter and payed for my outfit along with some pajamas that I knew I'd need later. Then, we headed back into town.

     Kakashi carried me on his back and showed me the village while jumping over rooftops, and it was the coolest experience of my life. I couldn't believe how high we were going, it felt like we were flying! I couldn't wait until I was able to jump, and fight, and do, you know, other awesome ninja stuff! Konoha itself was beautiful. Crisp air, clear blue skies, lush green plant life. There was obviously less pollution in this world than in the real one. 

     After about an hour and a half, Kakashi had shown me practically the entire village, so I told him the address for the apartment I was supposed to be living in and he dropped me off at the front door. "Thanks for everything today, Kakashi." I said with a smile as I hugged him. He hugged back and ruffled my hair a bit. "No problem, Akane. I'll be checking in on you every once and awhile to help you adjust, so I'll see you around."

     "Alright, see you." And with that, he jumped off and disappeared. I fished the little key out of my pocket and entered my new home. It was a relatively small apartment with only one bedroom, one bathroom, and little kitchen that connected with the living room, but it was also prefurnished. I went to my room and dropped the plastic bag that held my old clothes and new pajamas, and I sat on the edge of my bed. Now I finally had a chance to release all of the pent up fangirling I had accumulated throughout the day. "Oh. My. GLOB! I CAN'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING THAT JUST HAPPENED, I HUNG OUT WITH KAKASHI AND I MET THE HOKAGE AND I GET TO MEET A BUNCH OF OTHER CHARACTERS TOMORROW AND I GET  TO BE A NINJA! I GET TO BE A FREAKING NINJA!" After that, I ran out of breath and flopped back and stared at the ceiling. "But, even though this is insanely cool, I can't help but wonder how I got here, and why. Does God have some special plan for me? Am I the chosen one of some great legend?... Am I a character in a fanfiction? Haha, yeah right, that last one was just stupid..." I monologued. Then I sat back up and reached into my plastic bag, pulling out the cherry sucker I got earlier. I unwrapped it and put it in my mouth, and I smiled to myself. "Well, whatever's going on, I know things will definitely be interesting."


	2. First Day at the Ninja Academy!

"Akane, wake up." a distant voice said. "Just five more... hours please..." I mumbled, half asleep. "Akane, seriously. You have school."

     "..."

     "Akane, get up. Please?"

     "..."

     "Get up, or else?"

     "..."

     "Okay, have it your way."

     "UWAH!?!"

     Suddenly I felt my mattress flip to the side, and I tumbled to the ground. "Kakashi, what the hell?!" I yelled. "Good morning to you too, Akane-chan." he said with a smile, as if he hadn't just tossed me to the floor. "How'd you even get in here?" I asked. "Ninja can pick locks." he said. "So... you broke in?"  
     "No, the Hokage gave me a key," he held up a small apartment key identical to mine, "I just figured it'd be important for you to know that most ninja can pick locks."  
     "Um, thanks for the totally weird and random lesson, but maybe you should just leave the teaching to my sensei at the academy. Speaking of which, what time does school start?"

     "School starts at 7:00 a.m."

     "And what time is it now?" I asked with a yawn. 

     "It's 7:05."

     My jaw dropped. "What!? Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm late! Get out, I have to get changed!" I stood and shoved Kakashi out of my room, then slammed the door shut. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner!?" I yelled angrily as I rushed to change my clothes. "I tried for about ten minutes straight. It's not my fault that you're a heavy sleeper." Kakashi replied through the door. I felt an anger vain pop up on the side of my forehead. "Tch, I'd have still been late, even if I had woken up ten minutes ago!" After I finished getting dressed, I threw my bedroom door open and sped to the bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth and fixed my hair, and then ran to the front door. Kakashi was sitting on my couch, reading. "Come on man, I need you to show me how to get there!" I said impatiently. "Calm down, I'm coming." he replied while he rose to his feet slowly, as if we didn't have important places to be. "You know, you're already late, so there's no point in rushing." he said as we walked outside. "The point is to not be even more late than I already am." I huffed irritably. "Of course he's not worried, being late to things is basically his trademark." I thought as I rolled my eyes. I locked my apartment door and then hopped on Kakashi's back. "Now mush, onward to the academy!" I yelled while pointing in a random direction. He simply chuckled and complied with my orders. After a short rooftop run through town, we landed at the academy's front gate and Kakashi set me down. "Alright, good luck Akane. Work hard, and stay out of trouble." he said while ruffling my hair. "Yes, mom." I replied playfully and he simply shook his head. "And by the way, I won't be here this afternoon, so you'll have to get home on your own. See ya." Then, there was a puff of smoke and Kakashi disappeared. "Wait, what!? But I have no idea how to... get home... " I sighed in defeat, knowing that my guide was long gone. "So I'm late to my first day of school and now I'm probably gonna get lost on my way home. Lovely." I grumbled to myself.

     I turned around and started towards the school building. Once inside, I looked through the halls and saw that they were empty, which made sense since class had statred almost twenty minutes ago. I walked and walked until I found my classroom, then I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and knocked on the door. The door slid open to reveal a man with a high ponytail and a scar across his nose. "Are you Iruka-sensei?" I asked, as if I didn't know. "Yes, and you must be Akane, am I right?" He asked with a smile. "Yeah. I'm, uh, sorry for being late. It won't happen again." I said nervously. "Don't worry about it. The Hokage explained the situation to me, so I know your new around here. Why don't you come inside now and join the class." he said. I nodded and he moved aside for me to enter. As I walked in, I put my hands in my vest pockets and put on an emotionless expression to avoid showing how nervous I was. "Okay class, listen up! We have a new student joining us today." Iruka said, grabbing the class's attention. Then he told me to introduce myself. "My name's Akane Tachibana. That's all." I said curtly. To everyone around me I looked cold, calm, and distant, but on the inside I was freaking out. Partially because I was in a room full of characters that I had been a fan of for years, and partially because I was in a room full of people staring at me. The staring was making me uncomfortable and if it went on for too long my, calm facade would crack. I decided to find a way out by asking Iruka-sensei were I should sit. "Hmm... Go ahead and sit next to Sakura. Sakura, stand up please." The rosette stood up from one of the middle rows of desks and waved for me to see her. I walked towards her and sat to her right. "Alright, now let's get back to the lesson." Iruka said as he turned to face the chalk board.

      As he started teaching I felt a small poke on my left shoulder, and I turned to see Sakura smiling at me. "Hi, I'm Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you!" she whispered cheerfully. I gave her a small smile and nodded. "Nice to meet you too." I replied quietly. "If you need help with understanding something then just ask me. I'm one of the top students in this class, so I should be able to help you out." she said. I was about to thank her when we suddenly both heard snickering behind us. I turned around and saw that the source was a girl with long blonde hair and teal eyes. "What's so funny Ino?" Sakura asked harshly. "The fact that you think you're smart enough to be of any help to anyone, Billboard-brow." Ino retorted sharply. "Well, I think it's funny how much weight you've gained recently, Ino-pig." Sakura hissed with an evil smirk. Ino gasped. "You take that back Billboard-brow!" She whisper yelled. "You first Ino-pig!" There was literally electricity shooting between their hard glares and I sighed knowing that this was only going to get worse. 

     "Billboard-brow!"

     "Ino-pig!"

     "Billboard-brow!"

     "Ino-pig!"

     "Billboard-brow!"

     "Ino-pig!"

     This continued until their whisper yelling gradually grew loud enough for Iruka to notice. "Ino, Sakura, that's enough! You're disrupting the class and setting a bad example for our new student!" he scolded. "Sorry, Iruka-sensei." the two girls said simultaneously. They scowled at each other one last time before turning their attention to the blackboard. I began listening to what Iruka was teaching and I realized that I didn't understand it at all. It was a physics lesson on the correct angle and velocity of kunai and shuriken throwing or something. I tried to make sense of it but, a lot of math was involved, and math is not my strong suit. I just decided to tune it out for now, and teach it to myself some other way later. That's how I'd gotten through school in the real world, so why not try it here? 

     I glanced around the room and picked out all of the familiar faces when I realized that someone was missing. Naruto. "That's weird. Where could he be?"  Then I suddenly felt a breeze in the room. I turned around and saw a window opening slowly in the back of the classroom. After the window was completely open I saw Naruto trying his best to sneak in. He was half way in when suddenly Iruka turned around and launched a large piece of chalk at his head, causing him to fall to the ground with a loud thump and most of the class to laugh. "What the heck was that for, Iruka-sensei!?" the blond boy yelled. "That was for being nearly forty minutes late and for trying to sneak into class! Now take your seat, and if you're lucky you'll learn how to sneak into a room quietly like a real ninja." Iruka replied irritably. A lot of the kids snickered and laughed again while Naruto made his way to his desk. He passed me but then suddenly turned around and looked at me. "Hey, who the heck are you!?" he yelled while pointing a finger a few inches from my face. I sweatdropped and lightly brushed his finger away. "I'm Akane Tachibana, I'm new here." Naruto stared at me for a second before grinning and pointing his thumb at himself. "Well, I'm this academy's top ninja and the village's future Hokage! The one and only Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" he shouted confidently. I was about to respond until Sakura decided to join the conversation. "As if, Naruto. Everyone knows that Sasuke-kun is the best, and that you're the academy's top screw-up!" she scoffed. Naruto just crossed his arms and huffed. "I could beat that jerk in my sleep." I heard him grumble as he walked to his desk. I leaned towards Sakura and whispered "You were kinda rude to that Naruto kid, don't you think?" She shrugged and said "Maybe, but who cares? Trust me, stick around long enough and you'll see that Naruto is nothing but annoying." I simply shook my head in disapproval. "I care..." I muttered softly.   
     Soon after that, a bell rang and Iruka announced that it was time for lunch. "And after lunch break, we'll be moving on to today's physical education." he said as we all flooded out of the class. Sakura and I walked out into the courtyard when she suddenly stopped and squealed. "Ah geez, here we go." I thought as I mentally facepalmed. "Look Akane, over there! That's him!"  
     "That's who?" I asked boredly, already knowing the answer. "That's Sasuke-kun standing over there in the blue T-shirt! Isn't he dreamy?" she sighed. I looked in the direction that she was pointing and saw the dark haired Uchiha boy standing about twenty yards away. I just stayed silent, not feeling like answering her previous question. "We should ask him if he wants to eat lunch with us, come on!" she said excitedly while tugging on my arm. "No thanks, you go ahead without me." I said. I wouldn't have minded trying to make friends with him, but I really didn't want to take any crap from his fangirls, so I figured I'd try later. Sakura looked at me as if I had just said no to getting a free pet unicorn or something, but then turned around and started jogging towards Sasuke. "See you later then." she said with a bright smile. I could practically hear her inner voice saying something like "Alright, this just means I get him all to myself! CHA!" Once she reached him I couldn't hear their conversation, but it was pretty clear what was happening. She asked, he rejected, she was dissapointed, he didn't care, and walked off. As he was walking, I saw him peer cautiously over his shoulder at me, as if he was preparing to run from me or fight me off if necessary. At first I was a little offended, but then I realized that I'd probably be paranoid too if I had to deal with constant fangirl attacks. I just shrugged it off and walked in the opposite direction. While I was walking, my stomach growled and I realized that I hadn't eaten all day, and that I didn't bring a lunch. "Kakashi, you idiot. I'm starving and it's your fault!" I thought angrily.

    I sat under a tree, trying to ignore my hunger, when two people walked up to me. Shikamaru and Choji. "Hey new girl, your name's Akane, right?" Choji asked in between bites of the potato chips he was eating. "Yeah, and who are you guys?" I asked. Man, pretending like I didn't know anyone's name was getting really annoying. "I'm Shikamaru Nara, and my friend here is Choji Akimichi." Shikamaru said with a face that gave off the impression that he was dying of boredom. "Since you're new here, we figured we'd welcome you by inviting you to eat lunch with us. There's a really good barbeque place close by. " Choji explained. "Wow, thanks a lot, I'd love to eat with you guys!" I said with a smile, happy that I wasn't going to starve to death before the end of the day. I stood up and stared to follow the two boys, but all three of us stopped when we heard a loud boom. We turned around and saw smoke coming from one of the school windows, and Naruto laughing while running from three teachers. One was soaking wet, one was covered in soot and had singed clothes and hair, and the third was covered in green slime. "Hahaha, oh man, booby-trapping the teacher's lounge was my best idea yet!" Naruto yelled happily in the distance. I couldn't help but laugh, I loved pranks. "So that's why he was late? What an idiot." Shikamaru said as we continued our walk to lunch. "Aw come on, he seems nice. And you've gotta admit he's funny." I said. "I guess." Shikamaru said blandly. After that nobody said anything, so we all just kept walking in a semi-awkward silence. Soon we reached the restaurant, and I could smell cooking meat. My stomach growled loudly, again, and I blushed slightly but also kept a straight face to pretend that it didn't happen. The three of us walked in and took our seats in a booth. I noticed that the table had a small grill in the middle. "Oh, are we supposed to cook the meat ourselves?" I asked curiously. "Yeah, we order the type of meat we want and some side dishes, and when it gets here we grill the meat however we want." said Choji (A/n: I have no idea if that's how these types of places work, I'm just guessing.). "Oh, that sounds cool. I just hope I don't burn anything." I said jokingly. We ordered all of our food and then sat making small talk until it arrived. When we all started eating, Shikamaru suddenly spoke up and said, "Akane, I guess I don't mind you eating with us, but don't expect us to pay for your meal." 

     "Um, okay. Why would I?" I asked. "Because that's how women always are. It's part of what makes them so troublesome." he said, clearly not giving a crap about how offensive his statement was. An anger vain popped up on my head again and my eyebrow twitched a bit. "You know, not all women are like that. And it's pretty unfair for you to say things like that." I said, but then I thought back for a second about the girls in Konoha. "Then again, the girls around here seem like they might fit your stereotypes. But, I'm not from around here, get it?" Shikamaru looked at me before sighing. "Yeah, I get it. You do seem like you're different from other girls, and it was wrong for me to assume things about you. Sorry, I guess." I smiled and nodded in acceptance of his apology. 

     "You know, I've been wondering, where are you from, Akane?" Choji asked. "Yeah, most people would've explained that in their class introduction, but yours was seriously vague." Shikamaru said. "Actually, I can't remember anything before yesterday morning, so I have no idea where I'm from." I explained casually as if my situation was normal. The two boys just stared at me in shock. After a short time, they came back to their senses and started asking questions, so I explained everything from the beginning. "Yesterday morning I woke up at the bottom of a hole with no memories except for my name and age. A Jônin came and pulled me out, and brought me to see the Hokage so that I could request his assistance. The Hokage decided to let me live here in Konoha until someone comes to bring me home, and I decided to join the academy and become a ninja." I told them my partially false story, and they listened intently. "Wow. Not being able to remember your home or family? That must be rough." Choji said sympathetically. "Kinda, but I'm fine. I can't remember any good times, but I can't remember any bad either. And seeing as how I woke up at the bottom of a pit, there was probably a lot of bad." I said with a small smile. "So why'd you decide to become a ninja instead of something easy?" Shikamaru asked. "Being a ninja seemed cool." I said with a shrug. Shikamaru smirked and said, "Yeah, you're definitely different than other girls. You're completely weird." I smirked back and replied "I may be weird, but at least my head doesn't look like a pineapple." We all laughed.

     The three of us talked and ate until all the food was gone. Almost gone, actually. There was one piece of meat left cooking on the grill, and I decided that I wanted it. I reached out and grabbed it with my chopsticks, but someone else grabbed it at the same time. I shifted my gaze upward and locked eyes with Choji. "What do you think you're doing, Choji." I stated, more than asked. "I'm about to eat the last piece of meat." he said with a dead serious expression. "Oh, you mean my last piece of meat?" I asked. "No, the last piece if meat is sacred and must only be eaten by someone who's worthy." he said. "Oh yeah? Well who's to say that I'm not worthy?" I questioned. "It's pretty obvious that you're not. There's no way anybody as skinny as you could ever be worthy."

     "Hey, that's unfair! Me being skinny doesn't mean I don't love food!" the both of us had the flames of rivalry in our eyes as we stared each other down. We stayed locked in a stalemate until a white flash flew between us. We looked at our chopsticks and saw that the meat was gone. It was in Akamaru's mouth, until he swallowed it. "NOOOOO!" me and Choji yelled in unison. I anime cried with waterfall tears while Choji went into a fit of rage. "YOU STUPID DOG! THAT PIECE OF MEAT WAS SPECIAL, GIVE IT BACK!" he screamed. He tried to grab Akamaru, but Shikamaru held him back. "Hey guys, sorry about that." I heard a voice say. I turned and saw Kiba walking towards our table. "It's fine, I guess. It was only one piece of meat." I said. "Oh, hi new girl, it's nice to meet you!" he said with a grin. "It's nice to meet you too, um..." I trailed off at the end, waiting for him to say his name. "Kiba, my name's Kiba Inuzuka. And this is my dog, Akamaru." Kiba held out his hand and I shook it. "Nice to meet both of you." I said with a smile. "Anyway, I came to tell you guys that it's time to go back. Lunch is about to end."   
     "Man, what a drag. Now we have to go do P.E." Shikamaru sighed. We all stood up and made our way out of the restaurant. On our way back to the school I talked with Kiba. He was really cool and funny, and I could tell that the two of us were going to be friends. 

    When we got back to the school, our class had to gather in what looked like a training field. There was a dirt track, target dummies, and sparring areas. Iruka started us off by having is do warm-up exercises. We did push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches. We did a lot of them, but they weren't that hard. Next we moved on to our first main exercise. Iruka instructed us to run four laps around the track, which was the equivalent of one mile. And we had to do it within a range of six minutes or less. "Oh crap. I'm gonna die... " was all I could think.

     Most of the other kids finished within five minutes and acted like it was nothing. I finished at six minutes and eleven seconds. Technically, I finished within the time limit, but I was still one of the slowest. The only people that came in after me were Choji, who wasn't far behind, and Shikamaru, who had decided to walk the whole thing because "Running is a pain." After I ran the last lap, I joined the other students and collapsed to the ground. I heard people whisper things like "She's tired already?" and "Is she really that weak? How lame." but I was too exhausted to care. I was laying on my back with my eyes closed and trying to catch my breath when I heard a quiet voice ask "E-excuse me, are you alright..?" I opened my eyes and saw Hinata standing over me, fidgeting with her fingers. I was too out of breath to answer, so I just nodded, as an attempt to act tough. Hinata obviously wasn't buying it though. "H-here, drinking something m-might help." she murmured. She handed me a water bottle, which I opened and chugged immediately. Once the bottle was empty, I felt revived enough to speak. "Thank you so much. I felt like I was dying." I said with relief. "It was n-nothing." she said quietly. "What's your name?" I asked. "Oh, I-I'm Hinata H-Hyuga. It's nice to meet you A-Akane-san." she said with a small, bashful smile. "Nice to meet you too, Hinata." I replied with a warm smile. Hinata and I sat together in a comfortable silence until our sensei announced that it was time to move on to our next exercise, shuriken practice.

     We walked to the practice dummies, and I noticed that they all had targets drawn onto where their vital points would be if they were people. Iruka handed me a weapon pouch and I strapped it to my right leg. I picked a dummy and stared at it while holding a shuriken. "Man, that lesson Iruka-sensei was teaching earlier would be pretty helpful right now. Why does math always have to get in my way!?" I thought frustratedly. I decided to just observe someone, to see how it's done. I looked around and saw Sasuke a few targets away. He hit the bull's-eye on the dummy's head and heart everytime, so I decided to watch him. I took note of his stance, posture, and technique before attempting it on my own. I mimicked him and threw the shuriken, but I missed horribly. I tried and failed several times, but I kept making adjustments and getting closer. Finally, I threw one and managed to hit the dummy's head. It wasn't a bull's-eye, but it was in the target. I smirked in satisfaction seeing my progress. Iruka came up to me and said "Not bad, Akane. I see you learn quickly. Keep up the good work." I smiled and nodded. 

     During the remainder of target practice, I continued to try different stances and techniques until I found what worked best for me. I missed the targets most of the time, but I managed to get at least one bull's-eye in the heart, so I was proud of myself. After shuriken practice was over the class moved on to our final exercise; sparring. I was assigned to be Sakura's partner. "Alright, at least I'm not with someone super strong." I thought. Sakura and I took our positions. As soon as Iruka signaled for the matches to start, Sakura sprang towards me. She launched a fist right at my face so quickly that I barely had time to react.

    I ducked to the side just in time to avoid her attack, but I left myself open. Sakura took her chance to attack again and landed a hit to my stomach. I stumbled back and coughed. Then, without a second of hesitation, my pink haired opponent sent a high kick towards my head. I blocked it with my forearm, but it stung like crazy. I got tired of defending and dodging, so I switched to attack. I rushed to Sakura and pretended that I was going to throw a punch at her face. When she prepared to block, I ducked and threw a sweeping kick at her feet. Unfortunately, she jumped. Now, I was back on defense. After receiving, blocking, and dodging dozens of blows, I started to get frustrated.

     After getting another hit to the stomach, I blindly threw a punch at Sakura. She caught me by the arm and flipped me into the air. As I was coming back towards the ground, a sudden instinct kicked in. I landed on my hands, twisted my body, and did a flip to land perfectly on my feet. Then I ran towards Sakura, and threw several successful attacks. It was so amazing, but it was like my body was moving on its own. After landing a few hits, I jumped away from Sakura, and just stood in shock. "What just happened? How did I do all that!?" I got completely lost in thought, and was so zoned out that I didn't see Sakura coming. She punched me directly in the left eye and knocked me flat on my back. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Akane! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." I said.

     I tried to stand, but I lost my balance and stumbled back to the ground. I was incredibly dizzy and seeing stars. Sakura helped me stand and then walked me to a bench. Iruka gave me an ice pack, and I sat out for the rest of the class. All I could think was "I lost a fight... to Sakura?" I hadn't expected to be some ultra-strong ninja warrior right off the bat, but losing to the shows weakest character really put things in perspective. I needed to train, and I needed to train hard. 


	3. Walking Home

     A few minutes after my sparring match with Sakura, a bell rang and signaled the end of the day. Most of the other kids immediately started running or walking off of the school grounds, happy to be free for the day. My head was still hurting a bit and my left eye was swelling up, but I had recovered enough to walk so I made my way to the school's front gate. Now I had to find my way back to my apartment. "Okay. When Kakashi brought me this morning, we were traveling towards the sunrise which means we were going east. That means to get home, I have to go west, which is to my... left."  After rationalizing the proper course, I nodded to myself and started on my way home. I hadn't even walked five feet before someone called out and stopped me. "Hey new girl, wait up!" I could tell from the voice that it was Ino. "This can't be good. If she wants to talk to me, then it's probably to give me some dumb warning about staying away from her Sasuke."  I turned around and saw her walking towards me. "Hey, Ino right? You need something?" I asked. "I just wanted to be fair and warn you that Sasuke-kun is mine, so stay away from him." she said firmly. "Predictable..." I sighed quietly. "What did you say?" Ino asked sharply. "Nothing, nothing." I replied lazily. "Anyway, you don't have to worry, I'm not after Sasuke." At this, Ino snorted. "Yeah right! Everyone saw you during target practice, you couldn't keep your eyes off him! Don't try to play dumb." she said. I was starting to get irritated. "Look. I was watching him to observe his style of shuriken throwing, nothing more. I'm not in to him, end of story." I explained, but it didn't help. "Give it up, I can tell that you're nothing but a big fat liar!" she said loudly and with a proud smirk that said 'you can't fool me so don't even try'. "And I can tell that you're nothing but a big fat pig! " I yelled internally. I wanted to say it out loud, but I really didn't want to continue in the conversation, so instead I simply turned around and walked away without a word. "H-hey, you can't just walk away! I'm not done with you!" she yelled after me. "Don't care." I said flatly, without even glancing back at her. Thankfully she didn't follow me, so I was able to continue on my way home in peace.  
     My left eye was now swollen shut and bruised. "Geez, Sakura probably thinks I like Sasuke too. Even if she did this to me by accident, she probably wanted to hurt me subconsciously." I let out a heavy sigh, knowing that every girl in class most likely had it out for me. I was used to it though. I had always had trouble getting along with other girls. Back in the real world, girls teased me for being tomboyish or for liking anime, and for lots of other reasons. Eventually I just learned to ignore it and move on. I shook my head and tried to push away my sad thoughts and memories that suddenly decided to surface. "C'mon just forget about that stuff, Alice. You're in a completely new world, and get to have a  fresh start. Things will be different here. Things will be better."   
     My thoughts shifted, and I started thinking about everyone I left behind. "I wonder how everyone's doing, back in the real world. Does my family miss me? Are they looking for me? Are my friends okay? Will I ever see them again? How are things on Quotev? Ugh. I really like being in the Naruto world, but I feel guilty about just disappearing from my old life. Even though it wasn't my choice..." I was so enveloped in thought that I didn't notice someone running towards me and yelling my new name. "Akane-chaaaaan~!" Without warning I was pulled into a death hug and spun in circles. "Oh my gosh when we heard that the Hokage let you stay in the village I was so excited and I can't believe you joined the academy that's just so amazing! " The person hugging me was a guy, and was much taller than me. He had a happy voice and spoke quickly. I was so surprised by the sudden embrace that I didn't know how to react. I tried talking, but his grip was so tight that I could hardly breathe. "Brother, you should let go of her now. I think you're choking her." said another guy's voice from behind the one holding me. "Whoops! Sorry Akane-chan." The first person apologized before releasing me and setting back on the ground. I finally got to see my ''attacker'' and rescuer while I gasped for air. "Oh, you're the two Chūnin that I met at the gate yesterday." I said breathlessly. The first one had snow white hair and plum purple eyes. He had been smiling the whole time and was clearly a very cheerful person. The second looked identical to the other, except he had a very stoic expression and his hair was jet black. They looked about eighteen or so. They both wore typical Chūnin attire, and had their metal forehead protectors attached to dark blue beanies. "Ah, you remember us! " the whited haired one chirped. "Well she did meet us yesterday. I don't think we've introduced ourselves properly yet though." the black haired one stated in a slightly deeper voice than his twin's. "Oh that's right!" the first one exclaimed. "Well my name is Shiro Sakamoto and this is my younger brother, Kuro Sakamoto!" Shiro said while draping his arm over his brother's shoulder. Kuro nodded his head slightly at the acknowledgement of his name. "Nice to meet you." he said quietly. "Nice to meet you both." I responded.   
    "So how was your first day at the academy, Akane-chan?" Shiro asked. "It went pretty well, I think. Aside from this." I said while pointing to my black eye. "Ouch, that looks like it hurts." Shiro said. "How did it happen?" Kuro asked. "Sparring accident." I said with a shrug. "You know, whenever I get hurt, I eat sweets!" Shiro said. "You eat unholy amounts of sweets whether you're hurt or not. " Kuro said. "There's no such thing as an unholy amount of sweets!" Shiro pouted briefly before turning back to me. "Anyway Akane-chan, we we're just going for icecream. Wanna join us?" he asked. "Sure, sounds good to me-" before I had even finished my sentence, Shiro grabbed me by the hand and took off running. Kuro, who was clearly used to his brother's hyperactive actions, casually ran after us and caught up. Suddenly, Shiro stopped, causing me to run into his back. "We're here!" he announced happily. I peered around him and saw that we were standing just outside a small, cutely decorated shop. Shiro opened up the door, and the three of us entered as the sound of a small bell jingled. Inside, there was a few tables and chairs, and a little old lady sitting behind a counter. "Ah, Shiro. It's lovely to see you. How's my best customer doing today?" she asked in a sweet voice. "I'm doing great! How are you?" Shiro answered. "Oh I'm fine. How are you, Kuro?" she said. "I'm doing well today, ma'am. Thank you for asking." Kuro replied respectfully. "And who's your cute little friend there?" The elderly woman asked, referring to me. "This is Akane! She's new to the village, and our new friend." Shiro explained. "Nice to meet you ma'am." I said with a polite smile. "Nice to meet you too, dear. And welcome to our village. So what can I get for you three today?" she asked. "I'll have two scoops of chocolate on a cone, please. " I said. "I'll have a scoop of pistachio in a cup. " said Kuro. "And I'll take my usual." said Shiro. "Alright, just have a seat and I'll bring your orders in a bit. " The shop owner smiled. As the boys and I sat at a round table, I asked Shiro "What's your usual?" He giggled and said "You'll see in a sec."

     After a few minutes, the old lady came and placed our ice cream in front of us. "One chocolate, one pistachio, and... " My eyes widened in shock as a giant bowl filled with about fifteen different flavors of ice cream was set on our table. "Shiro's usual. You kids enjoy. " the old lady said. "Thank you." the twins and I answered in unison. "Now I see what you meant by unholy amounts of sweets." I whispered to Kuro, who chuckled in response. "I heard that~." Shiro said before playfully sticking his tongue out at us. We all laughed, and I stuck my tounge out at him.

     We all ate our icecream, and talked, and laughed for hours. By the time we left the little shop, it was starting to get dark. "Oh man, I probably should've left sooner." I said as I exited the parlor and saw the setting sun. "Well I'll see you guys around. I had a lot of fun." I started jogging towards the direction I thought my apartment was in until Kuro called out to me. "Akane, wait. It could be dangerous for you to go alone this late. Let us walk you home."  
"Really? Thanks guys." And with that, the three of us headed out. Instead of having them take me home, I told the twins that I wanted to navigate on my own. I thought that it was important to learn my way around as quickly as possible instead of someone having to lead me all the time. The boys agreed, and let me take charge, while they stayed with me to make sure I didn't get into trouble. But, after a few hours of wandering around town, I had gotten the three of us completely lost. After taking another wrong turn and coming up to a dead end, I finally gave up. "Gaaaaaaaahhh!" I let out a long, loud sound of defeat and exhaustion while I slumped against a wall. "I can't do this anymooooore! If I have to walk anymore, my legs are gonna give out! " I whined. "Come on Akane-chan, don't give up now!" Shiro cheered. "I'm sure we're almost there." Kuro added reassuringly. "Thanks you guys, but I seriously doubt we're even close to my apartment." I sighed. "I don't get it! I know I at least went the right direction, so why don't any of these roads look familiar?! " I thought frustratedly. And after a few seconds, I finally realized my mistake. "I'm such an idiot!" I suddenly yelled, causing the twins to look at me, surprised. "The reason that I couldn't remember the directions to my house is because I never came through the streets! Kakashi brought me from the rooftops!" I explained my sudden realization. "Oooooh." Shiro said. "Well in that case we should get to the rooftops and go from there." Kuro said. He picked me up and jumped onto the roof of a nearby shop, with Shiro following. I looked around for a bit and could see my apartment complex in the distance. "It's over there!" I said, pointing.  
     Kuro carried me over buildings and across the village until we finally made it to my front door. "Thank goodness I'm, finally home." I said with an exhausted sigh. "Thanks for everything today guys."  
     "No problem." the twins answered in simultaneously. "We should hang out again soon. " Shiro said, with Kuro nodding in agreement. "Definitely! I'll see you guys later. "    
     "Alright, see ya!"  
     "Yes, goodbye."  
     After we all said our departing words, the brothers left and I went inside. I was incredibly tired from roaming around town all day, so I decided to go to bed. But, as soon as I entered my room, I noticed some new additions; a chair, a small work desk, a stack of books, and an alarm clock. On top of the books was a note which said, 

     "These should help you keep up in class. Good luck.   
\- Kakashi " 

I really wanted to sleep, but I knew that I'd have to study my brains out to become a ninja in only a month. So, I opened one of the books with a sigh, and read until sunrise.


	4. Graduation Day

    I sat and stared out the classroom window as students were called one by one into the testing room. All of my friends had already been tested, and were waiting outside in the school courtyard with their new headbands, except for Naruto, who was gloomily sitting on the swing. As I gazed outside, I overheard two boys sitting behind me. "Do you think Akane's gonna pass?" One asked quietly. "Not a chance. There's no way anyone could become a ninja in only a month." Said the second. "Yeah, you're right. It's totally impossible. I wonder why she's even trying." Said the first again. "They'd probably be right, under normal circumstances, but this test shouldn't be a problem since I knew exactly what jutsu to study for." I thought with a smirk. I had been practicing the Clone Jutsu everyday, until I was able to make at least three. "Tachibana, Akane." My name was called by a teacher, so I stood up and made my way into the testing room. "Alright Akane, today you'll be tested on the Clone Jutsu. You'll have to make at least three effective clones to pass." Iruka explained. "Iruka, can't we at least lower the number of clones for her? Even some of the more experienced students have had trouble with this jutsu, and Akane's only been here for about a month. It doesn't seem fair to test her by the same standard as the others." Mizuki said, trying to sound like a kind and sympathetic teacher. I glared at him slightly, knowing that it was all an act. "Of course not," Iruka said, "If she can't pass by the same standards as the others, that means she isn't ready. It would be dangerous for her later if we went easy on her now." 

     "Thank you for your concern, Mizuki-sensei," I said while trying hard to keep the sarcastic edge out of my voice, "but I don't need a handicap." I built up my chakra, did the hand signs, and finished the process by thinking the correct phrase, "Clone Jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke, and once it was cleared I could see three replicas of me, standing in a row to my right. Mizuki looked shocked, having not expected me to do well. I smirked seeing the stupid look on his face. Iruka examined my clones a bit before speaking. "Your hand signs were a little slow, and the coloring of your clones is slightly faded, but other than that, they're perfect. Congratulations, Akane. You pass." He said with a proud smile. He held out a headband, and I grabbed it slowly, and stared at it, almost in disbelief. "I did it. I did it! I actually became a ninja!" No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't hold back how excited I was. I gave Iruka a bright smile and a bow. "Thank you so much Iruka-sensei! For everything!" I said. He chuckled. "You're welcome. Now, go ahead and meet the others outside." I nodded and headed towards the courtyard. Out of habit I slid my hands in my pockets as I walked, and unintentionally hid my headband.    

     As I walked outside I noticed most of my other classmates talking and congratulating each other in groups. Sakura was the first to spot me, and she walked over to me and gave me a sad smile. "Um hey Sakura...?" I said, confused as to why she was looking at me like I was some puppy that just got kicked. "Hey... You know you don't have to be sad or embarrassed or anything. Plenty of people have failed on their first try. I'm sure with more training you might pass next time. And nobody really even expected you to pass, so don't worry about it alright?" She suddenly blurted, her voice dripping with pity, and laced with superiority. I simply stood there, even more confused, and slightly angry, until I realized that she couldn't see my headband. I laughed a little while I pulled it out of my pocket and held it in front of her. "Gee, it's so nice to know that you had so much faith in me." I said sarcastically. "What!? Wait! I-i'm so sorry! I didn't mean what I said! W-what I meant was- um... I meant..." 

     Sakura kept trying to sputter an apology until she was cut off by Kiba suddenly appearing. "Congratulations Akane! I never doubted you for a second!" He shouted, with Akamaru barking along. "Thanks! Same to you!" I replied with a grin. Shikamaru and Choji made their way over to us, and we all congratulated each other happily (well, except for Shikamaru, who was acting like he didn't care.) Not long after that, everyone's families started showing up. I watched everyone excitedly show off their headbands to their parents, and all the adults praise their kids. I smiled sadly. "I wish my mom and dad were here. I miss them a lot. Plus, I bet they'd finally be proud of me for once. Their screw up daughter finally accomplished something..." I thought. As I glanced around I spotted Naruto on the swing. Even though I already knew he'd pass later that day, I still didn't like seeing him so down, so I decided to talk to him. On my way towards him I overheard the two women talking about him.

     "There he is. Do you see him? It's that boy..." Whispered the first.

     "You mean the one with the-" The other started before she was cut off by her friend.

     "Shhh! We're not supposed to mention that! But you know, I heard he's the only student that didn't graduate."

     "Hmph. Serves him right. A monster like that should never be allowed to become a ninja." After hearing that, I couldn't help myself. I stopped and glared at the two women. "You know, it's pretty dumb, not to mention rude, for two grown women to gossip about someone like teenagers. Especially about an innocent kid. Why don't you two grow up?" I scolded harshly. The ladies looked completely taken aback, and were apparently too offended for words, because they simply stood a gawked at me with their mouths open until I walked away. "That seemed to shut them up." I thought smugly. 

     I approached Naruto, and stopped a few steps in front of him. He sat on the swing with his head down, looking at the ground. "Hey." I greeted quietly. "Hey, Akane... I kinda want to be alone right now..." He replied solemnly. "Alright. But first I just want to say that I'm absolutely certain that you'll become a ninja soon. Everything will work out as long as you don't give up." After that, he didn't respond, so I left him and started walking home. "I hope I made him feel a little better at least... Crap, I hope I didn't make him feel worse! Hearing that from someone who passed with just a month of training probably made him feel worse! Oh man, I screwed up!" I turned around while trying to formulate some kind of an apology, but Naruto had already disappeared with Mizuki. I sighed. "Well, however I made him feel probably doesn't matter anyways. I'm sure he'll forget what I said in a couple of hours." As I headed away from the academy and back to my apartment a sudden question struck me. "Should I try to stop Mizuki? What would even happen if I did?... No, I shouldn't interfere. I could accidentally stop Naruto from earning his headband or something. That would be horrible. I wonder though... Can I even change major events in this world? Or are significant outcomes set in stone? That's something I'm going to have to find out... But not right now. Right now I gotta treat myself for becoming a ninja!" 

     I made my way home, and was suddenly assaulted with a handful of confetti to the face after opening the front door. "SURPRISE!!!" someone yelled. My new ninja reflexes kicked in and I got into a defensive stance while pulling out a kunai, but I relaxed as soon as I saw who was standing in my door way. "Shiro? What are you doing here?" I asked while putting away my knife and stepping inside. "We're here to celebrate your graduation!" After he said that Kuro stepped out of my kitchen, holding a black cake with shuriken shaped cookies and the words "Congratulations Akane" written on top in white frosting. "Wow, thanks you guy! But wait a second, I just graduated, like, thirty minutes ago. How'd you already know?" I asked. "Since we've been helping you train we've been watching your progress. We've seen how hard you've worked up until now," Kuro said while glancing at the dark bags under my eyes from endless nights of studying, and my hands, which were wrapped in bandages because of injuries from training. "We always knew you'd do great." I could feel my eyes start to tear up. "You guys are the best!" I yelled, pulling them both into a tight hug.

     I spent the rest of the day celebrating with the twins. The two of them gave me a few gifts, which included a blow dart gun, with a few poison darts, a book about making poisons from plants, a new set of shuriken and kunai, and a pouch full of smoke bombs. Kakashi stopped by in the evening to congratulate me, and to get a piece of cake. The twins went home late that night. After celebrating I was exhausted, but I was almost too excited to sleep. My mind was racing thinking about what my life was going to be like from then on. Eventually I fell asleep, and rested up for the days to come.

 


	5. My Team! The Knucklehead, the Know-it-all, and the Narcissist!

      I woke up at 6:00 in the morning to the annoying sound of my alarm clock. I stood and stretched before preparing myself for the day. After getting dressed, and eating breakfast and such, I started out my front door on my way to the academy. "Oh wait," I said to myself while I turned around and went back inside. I quickly walked back into my room and grabbed my brand new leaf ninja headband. "Almost forgot."

    I smiled at my reflection in my mirror as I loosely tied the headband around my neck. I left my apartment and hopped onto the nearest rooftop with ease. I leisurely jumped from building to building with my hands in my pockets. "Hey Akane, good morning!" I heard a loud voice from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Kiba approaching me. "Morning Kiba, morning Akamaru." I said. Akamaru barked in response from on top of Kiba's head. "So, you up for race to the academy?" Kiba asked with a grin. "Nah, not today. I'm really tired." I said. "You're always tired," he complained. "Did you stay up till dawn studying again?" He asked. "Maybe..." I said with a yawn. "Pfft, you're such a nerd." Kiba teased. "Hell yeah I am." I said proudly. "If I wasn't, I never would've passed through the academy in only a month." Kiba snickered, "Yeah you're probably right. Your physical scores were so bad at the beginning that your test scores were probably the only reason you weren't kicked out." Akamaru barked in agreement. "Hey, I wasn't that bad!" I said defensively while pushing Kiba's shoulder. "Yeah yeah, sure you weren't," he said sarcastically and laughed. "But why did you even need to study anymore? Like you said, you already passed." He asked. "Because, as far as experience and training, I'm way behind. Real ninja work is bound to be even harder than academy training, so I have to make up for my lack of ability with knowledge. Otherwise I doubt I'll even survive long enough to get as strong as the rest of you." I explained. "Hmm, makes sense." he nodded. "Anyway, you're moving a bit to slow for my taste right now, so I'm going ahead. I'll see you in class." He said. "Alright, see you." I said as he sped forward, towards the school. "Oh yeah! By the way, I hope we're on the same team!" He called back to me. "Yeah, that'd be cool!" I replied.

     As I continued on my way alone, I started to wonder which team I would be on. "I could end up on any team really. I could be on Kiba and Hinata's, Shikamaru and Choji's, Naruto's, or just some random one that's not even mentioned in the seires. Which team do I even want to be on? It'd be cool to be on the main one, but I don't actually know any of them very well." I thought back on my relationship with the future members of Team 7.

     Sakura always said that we were friends, but I got the feeling that she was just being nice to me because she felt guilty for what happened on my first day.

     Me and Naruto got along pretty well, but we weren't as close as I was to Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. As much as I loved him as a character, he could be a bit overwhelming in person.

     And Sasuke? I hadn't even talked to him. Anytime I even walked past him I got death glares from his fangirls. Plus he still gave me weird looks whenever we were around each other. He didn't seem to want friends yet anyway, so I figured that trying would just be more trouble than it was worth. "Meh, it doesn't really matter. Whatever happens, happens." I said to myself.

     As I approached the academy, my lack of sleep began to set in. I zombishly walked into class and shuffled my way through a small, chatty crowd of students to get to the first open seat I could find. I decided to try and take a nap before Iruka showed up, so I pulled my hood over my head and slumped over, using my arms as a cushion as I rested on the desk. Just as I started to drift into unconsciousness, a shrill girls voice jarred me back awake. "What do you think you're doing, new girl!?" I sighed. Even after a month some of my classmates still only called me "new girl".

     "Sleeping..." I mumbled in response. "That's not what she meant," another girl said, "she meant what are you doing taking the seat next to Sasuke!?" I paused for a second to process what she said before looking up from the desk. To my right I saw a crowd of angry fangirls trying to kill me with dirty looks, and to my left I saw Sasuke, staring straight ahead, trying to ignore everybody. Apparently the crowd that I had slipped through was the bickering fangirls, and the empty seat I'd found was the one they were all after.

     "Oh, I didn't even notice..." I thought out loud. "Good morning, I guess." I said to him, earning a sideways glance, but no verbal response. "WHAT!?" all of the girls shrieked collectively, causing me to wince. "Are you seriously so airheaded that you didn't notice that you were right next to Sasuke!?" Ino jeered. "Airheaded and sleepy. Don't forget sleepy." I corrected with an exaggerated yawn because I'm a smart ass. "Get out of my seat." Ino hissed. "Its not your seat. It's an open seating chart, and I got here first. Now if you'll all excuse me, I have to get back to the nap, which you all so rudely interrupted." I said while leaning onto the desk again. The girls suddenly exploded, spewing insults, and even a few threats. I kept my head down and ignored them all, but I was getting more and more angry by the second. All I wanted was to be left alone to take a nap. Was that too much to ask for?

     Amidst all the shouting I felt a hand lightly grip my right shoulder. "Akane-kun." I heard Sakura address me as politely as she could through gritted teeth. I peeked up at her and glared. "What?" I growled, slightly more threateningly than I had meant to. She looked down at me with shock for a split second before forcing a smile. "Could you please move?" She asked. I contemplated my response for a bit, but before I could answer I heard a girl yell "Naruto, stop glaring at Sasuke!" I turned around to see Naruto squatting directly in front of Sasuke. "Hey Naruto, I wouldn't do that if I were you-" I tried to warn him, but it was to late. The kid behind Naruto bumped into him, causing the infamous kissing scene.

     The class was dead silent, until I burst out laughing. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The two boys pulled apart and started spitting and gagging. "Naruto, I'm gonna kill you!" Sasuke yelled. "Ugh, I think my mouth is rotting!" Naruto cried. I continued laughing so hard that I nearly fell out of my seat and was practically in tears. "It's not funny!" Both boys snapped at me. "Yes- it- is!" I gasped out. Suddenly, I felt a lot of murderous intent form behind me. "Naruto." Sakura said in a low voice as she cracked her knuckles, "You're dead." The poor blond could only cower in fear as the angry hive of girls approached him. "W-wait! This was just an accident! It's not my fault, honest!" He pleaded. But, his begging did nothing. Sakura wound up, and launched the first blow towards his face, but I caught her fist just before the punch made contact. She looked at me with a mix of anger and confusion. "Akane, what are you-" 

     "That's enough. Just calm down now." I said in between stifled giggles as I tried to end my laughing fit, and wiped a tear from my eye with my free hand. "You guys should just cut him a break since it wasn't completely his fault. And Sakura, you can have my seat." I said as I stood up. The rosette's expression immediately switched to excitement. "Really!? Oh thank you so much, Akane-kun!" She said giddily while she sat down. "What!? Why her!?" Several other girls yelled. "Because she asked nicely." I said with a shrug. Before anyone could protest further, Iruka entered the classroom. "Alright, everyone take a seat!" Most of the girls quietly grumbled complaints under their breaths as they scattered to other desks. I sat at the end of the row, letting Naruto sit with Sakura to his left, and me to his right. "Hey Akane, thanks for the help." He whispered to me. "No problem." I quietly responded.

     Iruka stood at the front of the class and started giving an explanation about the teams and how they were arranged. I zoned out and started daydreaming. "YEAH!" I suddenly got jarred back to reality by Naruto's loud cheering. I looked over and saw him standing with his hands in the air, and Sakura sitting with her head hung low. "Oh, Iruka must be calling Team 7." I realized. "Sasuke Uchiha," 

     "YES!" This time Sakura stood and cheered, while Naruto slumped back into his chair and muttered "I'm doomed."

     "And Akane Tachibana." Suddenly all eyes were on me. Naruto looked happy, Sakura smiled at me, but seemed conflicted, and everyone else was just confused. People started whispering to each other, but Iruka ignored them and continued to call out teams. At the end of it Naruto stood up again and yelled "Iruka-sensei, why does a great ninja like me have to be on a team with a slug like Sasuke!?"

     "Sasuke had the best grades in the class, and you had the worst. We had to put you together in order to make a balanced team." Iruka explained. "Hmph, just don't get in my way, Loser." Sasuke taunted. "WHAT'D YOU CALL ME!?" Naruto roared. "What, hard of hearing?" Sasuke prodded him further. "Why you- Ow!?" Naruto started before Sakura smacked him on the head. "Shut up, Naruto!"

     "Sakura, be nice." I sighed before returning my attention to the teacher. "Iruka-sensei, just out of curiosity, why was I put on this team?" I asked. "Well, even though all of your grades are decent you still lack the training and experience that the others have. We figured that putting you with the top student would give you a good example to follow. I also thought that it would be beneficial for Naruto to have someone he gets along with on his team." I nodded, taking in the explanation. "Now, this afternoon all of you will meet your new Jônin instructors. Until then your dismissed." While everyone started to leave I decided to at least try and initiate some team bonding. "So, since we're a team now maybe we should all eat lunch together, and try to get to know each other better." I suggested. "No thanks." Sasuke said before leaving. "Maybe some other time." Sakura said quickly before trailing after Sasuke. I shook my head as she left. "What about you then?" I asked Naruto. "Sure, I'll eat with you." I smiled "Great!"

     Naruto and I headed outside and found a place to eat on a rooftop. We set out our lunches and then started eating. "I'm really glad you're on the team with me. I think I'd go nuts if I was with Sasuke and Sakura by myself." I admitted. "Huh? Isn't Sakura-chan your friend?" Naruto asked. "Kind of. She always tries to be really nice to me, but I don't think she really likes me all that much. I think she just feels bad about giving me a black eye on my first day, so she's forcing herself to be friendly. And I think the reason she secretly dislikes me is that she's worried that I'm after Sasuke, even though I'm not." I explained. "Oh... Well I'm glad we're on the same team too. I like Sakura-chan, but she's so obsessed with that Sasuke jerk! What's so good about him anyway!?" Naruto ranted. I just shrugged. Suddenly Naruto smirked and started chuckling darkly. "I just thought of something fun to do. Do you wanna help me get back at Sasuke for what he said to me in class?" I already knew his plan, and I was happy to go along with it. "Sure." I agreed.

     Naruto and I walked into a nearby store and bought a rope, some duct tape, and a disposable camera. Once we got what we needed, we found Sasuke. He was eating his lunch by the open window of an empty building. We snuck inside, and Naruto ambushed him, pulling him into the room from behind. "What are you two-Mmph!?" I immediately slapped a piece of tape over his mouth while Naruto overpowered him and tied him up. Then I took pictures of him while he lied on the ground in defeat. "Hahahaha, who's the loser now!?" Naruto exclaimed, stepping on the fallen Uchiha's back. "Now I'm gonna go see Sakura-chan!" He said before transforming into Sasuke. "Thanks for the help, Akane-chan!" He said as he climbed through the window. "No problem." I replied with a smile as he left. Then I turned around to look at the real Sasuke, who was glaring up at me from the floor. "Don't give me that look. This is your own fault for being a jerk. Karma." And with that, I quickly exited through the window to make sure I wasn't around when he untied himself. 

     Across the street I saw Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino eating lunch on a balcony, and looking very confused since they didn't see anything after Sasuke was pulled through the window. I just gave them a wave and a smile before fleeing the scene. I briefly went home to stash the camera film to develop later, and then went back to the academy. When I arrived I saw a crowd of Narutos fighting each other to get into the bathroom. "Oh right, he drank spoiled milk this morning." I remembered as I sweat dropped at his antics. "Just release the Shadow Clone Jutsu." I tried to suggest, but they were all too frantic to hear me, so I just shook my head, and started back towards the classroom. On my way there I was stopped when someone behind me grabbed my shoulder. "Give me the camera." Sasuke demanded coldly. I turned to face him with a coy smile. "What camera?"

     "Don't play dumb." He threatened, applying a bit more pressure to my shoulder.

     "Alright, truth is I don't have it anymore."

     "Well, where is it?"

     "I don't know. I gave it to Naruto. Ask him- er, them?" I said, nodding towards the still fighting crowd of clones.

     "You're a terrible liar."

     "Really? I've always thought I was pretty good."

     His only response was a sharper glare.

     "Fine," I said with a sigh of defeat, "here." I pulled the empty camera out of my pocket and he quickly snatched it away. He crushed it into pieces and tossed the remains into a nearby trash can, and then left me to go to the classroom on his own. As soon as he was gone I couldn't help but  smirk to myself. "There's more than one way to lie, Uchiha. You should've been more specific, and asked me for the film." I let out a low, dark laugh, before following after him.

Slight Time Skip

     A few hours had passed, and me and the others were the last ones in the classroom. I of course already knew Kakashi would be late, so I wasn't really bothered about having to wait. I was staring out a window and daydreaming when I heard Naruto start to complain. "Why is our sensei the only one who's late!? All the other teams are gone, and even Iruka-sensei left!"

     "Just sit down, and be patient!" Sakura commanded. "And what are you doing?" Naruto was standing on a stool, and propping up a chalkboard eraser between the  sliding door and it's frame. "This is what he gets for being late. As soon as he walks in; kaboom!" He snickered. "You idiot. Our sensei is a Jônin; an elite ninja. There's no way he'll fall for a stupid trap like that." Sasuke said. "Yeah, Sasuke-kun is right." Sakura agreed. "You never know. Even the most skilled shinobi let their gaurd down at some point. Like, for example, when they're eating lunch by an open window." I mused. Sasuke glared at me, and Naruto snickered, while Sakura looked around between the three of us questioningly, because she didn't know what happened earlier. Right after that, Kakashi's hand appeared in the doorway. He slid the door open and the eraser landed on his head, causing a cloud of chalk dust to settle in his hair. "Hahahaha, bull's eye!" Naruto cheered. "Oh Sensei, I'm so sorry! I tried to stop Naruto, but he wouldn't listen to me!" Sakura tattled. "Oh come on, Sakura. I can tell you thought it was funny." I said with a smirk. "W-what!? I did not!" She denied loudly. Kakashi looked at the four of us, and put his hand up to his chin in a thinking manner. "Hmm... My first impression of you guys..." he said, "Is that you're all a bunch of idiots." The others looked gloomy, but I responded with a bright smile. "But, from now on we're your idiots!" I chirped in a sarcastically cheerful tone. He seemed unamused. "Meet me on the roof." he said flatly, before poofing away. "So he's just gonna pretend he doesn't know me? Rude." I thought. 

     We all exited the classroom, when out of nowhere Naruto yelled "Race you guys to the roof!" and bolted down the corridor to the stairs. "Naruto, don't be so immature!" Sakura yelled, while running after him, obviously trying to win. "Idiots." Sasuke stated plainly. "But, from now on they're our idiots." I sighed like a mother watching her two children leave for their first day of school. Sasuke just gave a quiet and indecipherable "Hn." before starting to walk after them. I took a few steps in the same direction before coming up with a sudden idea. I turned around and backtracked into the classroom. "What're you doing? The stairs are this way." Sasuke said. "I know. I'm taking a short cut. The looks on their faces are gonna be hilarious when I "mysteriously" get to the roof first." I explained while opening a window and hopping on to the branch of a large nearby tree. "Are you coming, or do you want to be dead last?" I asked. "I don't care about some stupid race." he said, turning away. "Yeah, and I'm sure you won't care when Naruto gets to beat you for the second time today." I scoffed. He paused and seemed to think it over before following me out the window. 

     We climbed the tree to the top, and jumped from a branch to the railing of the roof. Because I'm secretly very competitive, I made sure to climb over first, making me the winner. The two of us sat on the concrete stairs in front of Kakashi, and shook the leaves out our hair while we waited for our teammates. Kakashi looked mildly confused, but he didn't question us. A little less than a minute later Naruto burst through the door, with Sakura a few seconds behind, and out of breath. "HAHA, YES I'M FIRST, BELIEVE IT!" He announced. "Not quite." I said, alerting him to our presence. "Try third." Sasuke corrected. "WHAT!?" The disappointed blond yelled dramatically. Sakura suddenly pushed him to the side and started fangirling. "Wow, Sasuke-kun you're totally amazing! You got here first without even breaking a sweat!" she praised. "Actually, he was second. I was first." I corrected. "WHAT!?" the rosette yelled this time. "How'd you do it!?" Naruto asked enthusiastically. I gave him a sly smile. "A ninja never reveals their secrets." I said with a finger to my lips. "I think that's magicians, Akane-kun." Sakura corrected. "Meh, same difference." I shrugged. "Aw come on, Akane you gotta tell me!" Naruto begged. "Enough fooling around. You two sit down." Our sensei ordered. Sakura immediately scurried to sit between me and Sasuke, and Naruto sulked towards the steps and sat next to me, before crossing his arms and pouting.

     "Alright, let's begin. I'd like to start by having you all introduce yourselves." Kakashi said. "Introduce ourselves? How?" Sakura asked. "Tell me about things you like. Things you hate. Your hobbies. Dreams for the future." Kakashi explained. "How about you go first, to show us how it works." Naruto suggested. "Yeah." Sakura agreed. "Seriously, guys? It's not that complicated." I mentally sighed. Even though I'm sure he agreed with me, Kakashi complied with their request sort of. "Me? Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't feel like telling you my likes and dislikes. My dreams for the future? I haven't really thought about that. And as for my hobbies; I have lots of them." I couldn't help but chuckle at his introduction, or lack thereof, that is. "Well that was completely useless. All he really told us was his name..." Sakura whispered, as Naruto nodded. "Kind of reminds me of how you acted when you first showed up, Akane-kun." She added on. "Heh, really? I'll take that as a compliment." I whispered back, with another chuckle. Sakura only sweat dropped, because obviously it wasn't one. "Right, now it's your turn. Let's start with the blond."

     "Believe it! My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I like cup ramen, and I really like the ramen that Iruka-sensei gets me from Ichiraku's! My hobby is eating different types of ramen, and comparing them, and I hate the three minutes you have to wait after pouring the boiling water into a ramen cup. And my dream is to become the greatest Hokage, so that everyone will look up to me, and start treating me like I'm somebody!" At the mention of his dream he spoke boldly, and held a determined grin. It was obvious that becoming the Hokage wasn't something that he took lightly. It meant everything to him, and I smiled, knowing that he would achieve it someday.

     "Alright, next the pink haired girl." Kakashi said boredly.

     "Okay! My name is Sakura Haruno. The thing that I like, or rather, the person I like is..." She then glanced at Sasuke and squealed while blushing before continuing, "my hobby is..." followed by more intense squealing and blushing, "and my dream for the future is..." and finished with even more intense blushing and loud squealing, causing me to plug my ears and shift away from her a bit. "Ugh! This girl's voice is reaching frequencies only dogs should hear! And I'd hate to even imagine what's going through that head of hers right now." I involuntarily shuddered a little at the thought. " And... what about something you hate?" Kakashi urged. "Naruto!" Sakura spat harshly, like even his name was enough to piss her off. "Aww!" The poor blond whined. "Sakura, be nice." I said, but she just rolled her eyes.

     "Okay, next up, you in the blue shirt." Kakashi said, looking towards Sasuke. 

     Even before he started speaking the atmosphere started to feel tense. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. My life's ambition is much more than a mere dream, because I will make it a reality. I will restore my clan, and I plan to kill a certain someone..." He said with an icy tone. Nobody spoke or even moved for a bit. Naruto looked mildly terrified, thinking that the dark haired boy might be planning to murder him, and Sakura had a dumb lovestruck look on her face, because she was weirdly turned on somehow. "...You, uh... forgot to mention any hobbies." I pointed out. The others then looked at me, and back to him, waiting for him to respond, but he ignored me, so we moved on.

     "And finally, the other girl" Kakashi said facing me.

     "Best for last, huh? Well, my name's Akane Tachibana. I like my friends, any shade of blue, nature and animals, especially cats, books, music, and food. I dislike spiders, tomatoes, and waking up early. My hobbies are reading, drawing, daydreaming, sleeping, cooking, eating, training, stargazing, cloud watching, and hanging out with my friends. My dream for the future is to just be the best ninja I can be. And to regain my lost memories if I can." I explained. Of course that last bit was a bit of an embellishment.

      "Right, and that's it for introductions. It seems you're all very unique. That's good." Kakashi said. "Tomorrow the four of us will do a special activity together, but for now you're all dismissed.'' 

     "Wait, activity!? What kind of activity!?'' Naruto asked excitedly. "Survival training." Our sensei answered bluntly. "What? Survival training? Why would we need to do that? We already had plenty of that back in the academy." Sakura interjected. "Like I said, this is a special training." Kakashi stated. "Special how?" Naruto asked. But this time he was only answered with a dark chuckle from Kakashi. The others seemed to tense up a little. "H-hey, what's so funny, Sensei?" Sakura asked nervously. "Ah, well, it's just that if I tell you, you guys'll freak out." he said, followed by more chuckling. I had to try hard to suppress an eye roll at our new teacher's attempts to be cryptic. "Geez, I've heard this dialogue about a million times before. Please just get on with it guys. And I get that he's trying not to get attached to us since he expects us all to fail tomorrow and whatever, but why does Kakashi have to act like such a creep? It really doesn't suit him. Ugh, I wish I could just fastforward through this conversation."

     "WHAT!? NO WAY!" Naruto suddenly shouted. Apparently I had missed a good portion of the conversation while I was complaining to myself. "What was the point of us working so hard, and graduating, then!?" Naruto continued. "Oh, that? That was just to pick potential Genin candidates." Kakashi shot down everyone's hopes and dreams so nonchalantly. "Anyways, tomorrow you'll have to show me your skills. Bring any tools or weapons you want. Here, these papers will give you the rest of the details you need." He then handed each of us a form with the meet up time, the specific training field we were meant to meet up at, and some other less important info. "Oh, and one last thing," Kakashi grabbed all of our attention once more, "I suggest you all skip breakfast tomorrow morning. Otherwise you might throw up. You're all dismissed."

     Everyone looked determined in their own way as they went on their separate ways home. I however hung back for a little to talk with Kakashi. "So, you looking forward to hanging out with me more, Kakashi-sensei?" I asked. "Technically, I'm not your sensei unless you pass tomorrow's test." He said. "Well, I'm sure we'll do fine, so get used to hearing us call you that."

     "Don't get your hopes up." He advised. "Too late. Anyways, what was with the cold shoulder today? It was like you didn't even know me. I was severely hurt." I said, placing a hand over my heart and pretending to wipe a tear from my eye. "Sorry, but I couldn't have the other students think that I pick favorites."

     "But you just said that we're not even your students yet. Make up your mind, man."

     "Heh, right sorry." 

     "Whelp, I'm gonna get going. I gotta get prepared for whatever you've got planned. See you tomorrow, Sensei!" I said while starting to walk off. Kakashi sighed, slightly annoyed that I was purposefully calling him that to bug him. "Yeah, see you."

     On my way home I immediately started to formulate a plan. I wanted to see if I could get everyone to work together, and pass without Kakashi having to explain the purpose of the test to the others. I knew it would be difficult, considering who I had to work with, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve.


	6. Working With Them Is Like Herding Cats!

      After a full afternoon of scheming and a night of rest I was prepared for the bell test. I had worked out a solid plan, and gathered all of my materials. Now all that was left was to put everything into action, and see how things went.

     Knowing that Kakashi would be incredibly late, as usual, I didn't bother trying to get to the training field at 5:00 A.M. like he instructed. Instead I woke up at 8:30, took about an hour to get ready, which included eating breakfast, and leisurely walked to meet up with my team. By the time I showed up it was around 10:15. As I approached I saw Sasuke standing and staring off into space, while Naruto and Sakura sat in the grass, half asleep. As soon as they saw me though they perked up. "HEY, YOU'RE LATE!" the two yelled in unison as they angrily hopped up from the ground. "Yeah, sorry I, uh... Overslept?" I shrugged. "Why are you phrasing it like a question!?" Sakura shouted, even more annoyed. This time even Sasuke acknowledge my existence long enough to shoot me an irritated glare. I gave a nervous laugh. "Geez guys, I said I was sorry. Besides look, I brought stuff to make up for it." I said while pulling out 4 lunch boxes from my backpack. Each one had 2 rice balls, some apple slices, and a box of Pocky. 

     Everyone looked at me questioningly. "Akane-kun, don't you remember what Sensei said yesterday?" Sakura asked. "Yeah, he said not to eat 'cause we could puke, remember?" Naruto reminded me. "Yeah, I know, but that was more of a suggestion than an order. Besides, if we do throw up it's best if we have something to, ya know, throw up. Otherwise we'll just keep gagging on nothing, which feels worse." I explained, trying to convince them to accept my offerings. "I guess that's true, but... I don't think we should disobey Sensei." Sakura said. "Yeah, plus I think I can tough it out. Believe it. Thanks anyway though, Akane." Naruto said. I half expected this, but I was still pretty disappointed. "Alright, well what about you then?" I asked Sasuke. "No thanks." He replied. I sighed. "Of course. Well, whatever. More for me." I said. 

     "Well, getting everyone to eat and keep up their stamina didn't work, but I guess that's not really the important part of the plan. As long as I can convince them all to work with me then it'll be a success. And if I know these three as well as I think I do, I know just how to make it work." I sat on the ground and had my second breakfast, which consisted of 2 of the 4 lunch boxes. "So you already had breakfast, and now you're eating again?" Sakura asked incredulously. I merely nodded as I took a bite from a rice ball. "Geez, if you keep that up you'll get fat." She warned as she and Naruto sat back down next to me. "Not if I train enough to burn it off. Besides, what's wrong with being fat?" I asked between bites. "You'll never get a boyfriend." She said. "Not true. Lots of fat people have boyfriends. Plus I'm not interested in dating right now." I said. "Well it's still unhealthy." She retorted. "Not necessarily. Some people are more healthy while fat than thin. Choji, for example is perfectly healthy and fit. Probably even more than me. There really isn't an average standard for health. It's all about what our bodies need individually. And right now my body needs a second breakfast." I said while finishing off a lunch box, and starting another. Sakura just looked at me dumbfounded, before turning away and muttering something about me being weird. When Kakashi arrived a few minutes later I was still snacking on some Pocky.

     "Morning, everyone. Ready for your first day?" He greeted us all with a wave. "HEY, YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura repeated as they jumped up again, while Sasuke silently glared at him. "Hehe, deja vu." I said as I put all of the lunch boxes back in my bag. "Yes, well a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." Kakashi explained. I chuckled while Sakura and Naruto growled in annoyance. "Well anyways," he cleared his throat awkwardly, "Let's get started." 

     Kakashi walked over to a timer that he had sitting on a stump and began explaining. "Here we go. It's set for noon. You're assignment is very simple. You just have to get these bells from me. That's all there is to it." He said, while holding up 3 silver bells on strings. "If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch." This caused Naruto to sound alarmed. "You'll be tied to those posts, and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you." Kakashi continued while gesturing to 4 large log posts. My teammates all looked distraught as they realized the real reason he'd told us not to eat. I still had a Pocky stick hanging between my lips, but I quickly ate it, and hid the box in my pocket in an attempt to make the others feel a little less bad.

     "Ah, wait a minute," Sakura suddenly interrupted, "How come there's only 3 bells?" She asked. "That way at least one of you will end up tied to a post, and ultimately be disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy." Kakashi explained with a smile. That new information suddenly put the others even more on edge. "Then again, all 4 of you could flunk out too. You can use any weapons you want, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me you won't be able to take the bells." He said. Sakura gasped. "Those weapons are too dangerous, Sensei!" She yelled. "Haha, especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser!" Naruto laughed. "Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores. Losers." Kakashi mocked. "Geez, dude. Harsh." I thought. Naruto tensed up and growled. "When I say start, you can begin." Kakashi said, but Naruto suddenly pulled out a kunai and charged at him before he could give the signal. Before any of us could blink Kakashi was already behind Naruto, with his arm twisted so that his own knife was pointed at the base of his skull. My teammates all looked surprised, and even I was caught off guard in a way since I had been looking right at him and still couldn't see him move. "Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet." Kakashi said in a low voice. Naruto struggled, but couldn't move an inch until Kakashi released him. All of us took a step away from the now even more intimidating Jônin. "But, you came at me with the full intent of destroying me, so... How can I say this? I'm actually starting to like you guys." Kakashi said with a chuckle before becoming completely serious again. "Get ready. And... Start!" And with that we all scattered.

     I hopped up into a tree and concealed my chakra as best as I could. "Shiro and Kuro told me that concealing my presence is one of my strong suits. I hope they're right. I don't want to be captured before I even get to start my plan..." I thought nervously. I observed Kakashi as he surveyed the area, trying to sense all of us. When he didn't make a move towards me I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "You and me, right now, fair and square, let's go!" Naruto suddenly yelled, standing boldly in the middle of the clearing. Kakashi cocked his head to the side in confusion. "You know, compared to the others you're a little bit... Weird." He said. "Oh yeah? The only thing weird around here is your haircut!" Naruto shot back. "I think they're both weird." I thought. Naruto charged at Kakashi, before stopping when he noticed his opponent reach into a small bag on his hip. Thinking he was going to pull out a weapon, he stayed on gaurd, and kept his distance. "Shinobi Battle Technique Part 1; Taijutsu, the physical part." Kakashi said as he pulled out one of his copies of Make Out Paradise.

     "What the!?" Naruto yelled, surprised and confused. "What are you waiting for? Make your move." Kakashi urged as he started reading. "But... But why are you reading that book!?" Naruto asked. "Why? Well, to find out what happens next in the story, of course. Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks it won't matter if I'm reading or whatever." Kakashi said dismissively, still not looking up from the page he was on. Naruto growled and clenched his fist before charging in again. "I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU!!!" He roared as he jumped and threw a punch, which Kakashi easily blocked. Then, while still in midair Naruto went for a sweeping kick to the head, but Kakashi ducked. Once he landed Naruto went for a final punch, but suddenly Kakashi was behind him. "Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time." Kakashi warned. "Naruto, get out of there! He's going to destroy you!" Sakura yelled. "It's nice that she cares, but does she really think Kakashi is willing kill him?" I wondered. "Too late. Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu: 1000 Years of Death!" Kakashi yelled dramatically before ramming his fingers into Naruto's butt. I had to slap both of my hands over my mouth to keep from bursting out laughing. "That's just as funny everytime I see it! Kakashi's such a dork! Oh man, I shouldn't be laughing! That was horrible! Don't laugh! Don't laugh!" I thought.

     Once I had finally calmed down I saw Naruto sending his clones out from the river he'd landed in. "Aw man, I missed him catch the shuriken with his fingers! That was so cool. Wait, not important right now." I thought, shaking my head to refocus on the task at hand. Now Naruto was fighting... Naruto. I sighed. It took him way longer to think about undoing his Clone Jutsu than it should have. And once he did he was completely battered and bruised from his own attacks. And then he was upside down. "Hey! Hey! What is this!? Lemme down!" He shouted as he dangled from a tree by his ankles. "Think before you use a Jutsu, or else your opponent might use it against you. Oh, and if the bait is obvious, don't take it." Kakashi advised while retrieving the bell he purposefully dropped. "A ninja must see through deception." He added on. "I. Get. It!" Naruto yelled as he thrashed around, trying to break free from the trap. "No, I'm telling you because you don't get it. You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?" Suddenly "Kakashi" got taken out by a direct hit from Sasuke's shuriken, causing both Naruto and Sakura to gasp. "GAH! HE JUST GOT BLASTED BY SHURIKEN! ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND SASUKE!? YOU WENT TOO FAR!" Naruto shouted. I just kept watching quietly as Kakashi was revealed to be a log.

     I heard rustling in a nearby tree and bush, which I assumed was Sasuke running to find a new hiding spot, and Sakura running to find him. Not long after that I heard Sakura scream. "Oh, sounds like Kakashi snuck up and scared the crap out of her. He must be putting her under his genjutsu right about now. Guess that means he's not near enough to see me. Time for me to make my move." When I turned my attention back to Naruto I saw that he'd cut himself free from the trap, and wound up in another. I hopped on to the branch he was hanging from, pulled him up, and cut him loose.

     "Wow, thanks for the help Akane! I thought I was gonna be stuck there forever!" He said as he scratched the back of his head bashfully. Then he got serious again. "Now it's time for me to really destroy that one eyed jerk!" Just before he could run off I stopped him. "Wait! Look, I don't think any of the four of us stand a chance by ourselves, but if we work as a group we can pass." I said. "You want to work together? Hmm..." He thought it over for a bit, and I actually felt pretty hopeful, until he spoke again. "No can do. Thanks for the offer, but I really have to do this on my own. The future Hokage has to be the strongest, ya know!" He said. "Yeah, but even the Hokage needs help. A leader is nothing without their people to support them." I said. "But a leader also has to be able to stand on their own two feet, to support their people." He said. "That's... A really good point." I said, surprised by how deep his response was. Then I saw him preparing to jump away, so I grabbed his sleeve. "Hold on!" I yelled. "Urgh! Akane I don't have time for this!" He shouted frustratedly. "Just listen for one more second! If you work with me I'll... I'll treat you to one meal at Ichiraku's everyday for a week!" I said quickly. Naruto stood really still, facing away from me silently. "Uhh... Naruto? Did you hear-"

     "A month."

     "... What?"

     Naruto turned to me with a sly grin. "Treat me to Ichiraku's for a month, and you've got a deal." I was irritated beyond belief. "... This little brat! I'm trying to help him, and he responds by trying to leech more out of me!?" I thought, as an anger vain popped up on my forehead. "No way! Two weeks, and that's my final offer! Either you take it, and we all pass together, or you don't, and you can fail by yourself!" I said. Naruto looked a bit surprised, and maybe even a little hurt that I said I'd leave him to fail by himself, but he still gave it a little more thought. "Alright, It's a deal. I'll help you out." He finally said. I sighed in relief, and annoyance. "Well, I ended up having to spend more than I originally planned, but at least he agreed." I filled Naruto in on his part of what I had planned, and then sent him off. "Alright. Now the next teammate closest to here is probably-"

     "KYAAAAAAA!!!"

     "Sakura." I sweatdropped as I heard her scream again, and ran off into the forest to find her. "Since this is her second scream it means she's fainted somewhere after the "dying Sasuke" illusion. Better find her before she wakes up." Sure enough, I found her passed out in the dirt. Just as I was going to wake her up I heard someone call out to me. "A-Akane, help me... Help me, p-please..." I saw the bloody Sasuke illusion staggering towards me and just rolled my eyes. "Kakashi seriously went overboard with this. If he keeps this up he'll have Sakura completely convinced that he's willing to kill us."

     "Release" I called out as I did the hand sign to dispell the genjutsu. It faded away as I crouched down next to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura, get up." I said as I shook her shoulder. She stirred a little, and her eyes fluttered open, before she suddenly shot up and gasped. Then she turned to me. "What's happening!? Where'd Sasuke go!? I have to find him, he's hurt!" She yelled frantically. "Sakura, just relax. Sasuke's fine, you just got trapped in a genjutsu, and I already got rid of it."

     "Oh, well that's a relief. But now I still have to find the real Sasuke." She said as she got up. "Hold on. Before you go I have a question. How do you feel about working together?" 

     "Well of course I want to work with Sasuke. Why else do you think I'm trying to find him?" She scoffed, as if I'd just asked the most obvious thing in the world. I felt my eyebrow twitch in annoyance, but I kept my irritation out of my voice. "That's not necessarily what I meant. I meant all four of us Genin working as a group. Doesn't it make the most sense for all of us to pool our strengths?" 

     "Hmm... I don't think that would work. If all four of us tried to fight together we'd probably just get in each other's way. That's why I think it's best if we work in groups of two at most. It's just more efficient that way. I'll assist Sasuke, and maybe you can work with Naruto. Actually, you'd probably just be better off by yourself, hehe." 

     I was really losing patience. It was pretty obvious that what she meant by "we'd get in each other's way" was that she didn't want me getting in her way, because of her stupid made up rivalry between us, and that Naruto wouldn't be useful. She was really annoying the hell out of me, but I just let her keep talking.

     "Anyway, I really have to get going to find Sasuke now. Good luck, Akane-kun." She said as she faced away from me. I sighed. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to waste any chakra on this conversation, but she's obviously never gonna listen to me, so..." As soon as she turned to leave I quickly did some hand signs and made a clone appear just past the treeline. Then it transformed into Sasuke, and stepped into the open. "There you are Sakura." He called out. She immediately turned around and gasped. "Sasuke-kun! I've been looking all over for you!" She cried happily. She went to hug "him" but the clone sidestepped her, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. I hadn't learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu yet, so this one was just an illusion, and if Sakura touched him it was game over. She was clearly disappointed that he dodged he, but acting in typical Sasuke fashion, Sasu-Clone showed no signs of caring. "Hn. Did Akane tell you about my plan like I asked her to?" He asked. "I tried, but she said she thinks it's inefficient, so she doesn't want to do it." I said as if I was at a loss. Sakura immediately started floundering for an excuse. "I-I didn't mean it like that! Akane just- uhh,  just didn't go into very much detail! And so I couldn't really get what she was saying, but if it's your idea I know it'll definitely work, so count me in Sasuke-kun!" She said hastily. Then she turned to glare at me and whisper yelled "Why didn't you tell me it was Sasuke's plan in the first place?" I just shrugged. "Okay, Sakura, listen," my clone said before explaining the plan in detail. Once Sakura was given her instructions she set off into the forest, and I released the clone as soon as she was out of sight. "Whew. I'm glad that's over with," I said to no one in particular. "Now I just have one more... This is going to be a challenge." I said, dreading the fact that Sasuke would no doubt be the hardest to convince. But, I was prepared.

     I started going deeper into the forest to search for him, and eventually found him still struggling to get out of the ground. I didn't see Kakashi anywhere, but I still waited before revealing myself just in case he was lurking around somewhere. "It seems like he's not here. If this were the original plotline he'd probably be punishing Naruto for trying to steal an early lunch right now, but if Naruto's following my instructions he probably won't be found yet, and Kakashi's searching for us. That means it's probably safe in this area." I finally decided to step out of hiding and walked towards Sasuke. I couldn't help but snicker at his predicament. "Looks like someone got stuck between a rock and a hard place. I wish I had my camera, heheh." I joked. Sasuke glared up at me and growled "Shut up. And get away from me."

     "Now now, that's no way to talk to someone who's come to help." I replied. "If you're going to help then hurry up, and get me out of here." He said impatiently. "Sure thing." I said as I cracked my knuckles before doing some hand signs. "Earth Style: Fissuring Fist Jutsu!" I punched down staight into the ground, and my arm sunk in to about halfway up my forearm. Then a large crack in the ground started spreading from my fist towards Sasuke. Once it reached him he suddenly fell deeper into the ground, and he yelped in surprise. "Sorry! I didn't mean to make it that deep." I called out apologetically. A few seconds later Sasuke climbed out and dusted himself off. Once he was above ground I pulled my fist out of the dirt, and the fissure closed back up. "Thanks." Sasuke muttered half-heartedly before starting towards where he thought Kakashi might be. "Hey, wait up a second. I've got something to tell you." I called out. Sasuke stopped and huffed. "What is it. Make it quick."

     "Alright. I think we should work together. As it stands now you're the most skilled of us four Genin, and even you can't take a Jônin on your own. I've already covinced the other two. If you work with us, we'll all pass."

     "No thanks. I don't need anyone else."

     "You just got captured. And you just needed my help."

     "And it won't happen again. Besides, I didn't need your help. I would've gotten out on my own."

     "Okay, well think of it this way; I just helped you, so you owe me one."

     "I didn't ask for your help, and like I said, I didn't need it. I don't owe you anything."

     "Why do you have to be so stubborn about this whole "loner" persona?"

     "Because the rest of you will just get in my way."

     "You're gonna fail with that mentality."

     "No, I'm going to win, because it's my mentality that makes me stronger. You're going to fail, because you're too weak to do anything on your own. Have fun flunking out with the other two losers." With that he started off on his own again. I sighed. "You know, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but you leave me no choice." I said.

     I was lying. Deep down, I actually wanted things to go this way. 

     I reached into my pocket and pulled something out, which caught Sasuke's attention. When I held up the items his eyes widened in horror. It was three pictures of him lying tied up on the ground after Naruto and I ambushed him. "How do you still have those!? I destroyed the camera!" he yelled. "Yeah. Too bad I'd already hidden the film." I said smugly. Suddenly a shuriken ripped through the photos I was holding, and Sasuke was glaring daggers at me. "How many copies did you make."

     "A lot."

     "Where are they?"

     "Pfft, I'm not gonna tell you. But don't worry, no one will ever see them as long as you cooperate."

     "And what if I don't?"

     "Well then, I'll probably start selling them. I'm betting your fangirls will pay a fortune for them. Especially the ones who want fuel for some of their more, uh... unsettling fantasies." I could see utter disgust in his eyes, and it was hilarious, so I decided to see how far I could push him. "Or maybe I'll just throw them around the village like parade confetti. I'm sure there are lots of people that would get a good laugh out of seeing you knocked down a peg." That seemed to be the last straw.

     He rushed over to me, grabbed me by the collar of my vest, and lifted me off the ground with one arm. "You. Wouldn't. Dare." He hissed while giving me the deadliest look I'd ever received. I probably would've thought he was scary, if I wasn't having so much fun messing with him. "You really think so?" I asked with a smirk. He looked me in the eye and seemed to understand that I was serious. He didn't say anything, so I continued."But, like I said, if you work with me nobody will see them. Who knows, I might even be inclined to let you destroy the rest when we're done."

     Sasuke seriously looked like he was restraining himself from killing me, but in the end he agreed. "Fine. What's the plan then." He spat as he dropped me, never once letting up on his glare. I chuckled before explaining what he had to do. As soon as I was done he left to fill out his instructions. I smirked to myself as I was left alone. "Alright, now that the team is working together, it's time to really get started."


End file.
